POLICE swooped on three houses in Rishton in a big drugs raid this week.
Operation Empire recovered amphetamine and cannabis during the raids at two addresses in Spring Street and one in Danvers Street just after 1.30pm on Wednesday.
The raids were part of an ongoing initiative to crack down on drugs in the area. The operation, led by Rishton Community Beat Manager, PC Mark Skellorn, involved two operational support units and 10 section officers, including Great Harwood Inspector John O'Reilly and Sergeant Dave Reddin.
It is the eighth time in 18 months that Spring Street has been targeted in a drugs raid and 20 warrants have been executed in the area in the past two-and-a-half years.
Teams of officers, including dog-handlers, carried out detailed searches of the properties, recovering 29 wraps of a white powder believed to be amphetamine from the house in Danvers Street and about three ounces of cannabis resin from one of the Spring Street properties. Three men were arrested, two from the same Spring Street address and one from Danvers Street.
PC Skellorn warned that drugs will not be tolerated in the district and said that officers would continue to target drug-related crime. He said: "This is part of an ongoing operation to target anti-social behaviour and drug use in the Spring Street area of Rishton. I want to put the message out that drugs will not be tolerated in the Great Harwood policing area and whenever information is received it will be acted upon.
"It's been a good result for us. It was a culmination of gathering intelligence and the officers have put a lot of hard work into the operation."
